Home Care In Sondheimer, LA

There’s a gray line in sports. It straddles right from wrong. Some don’t like it when people are on the gray line, but it’s perfectly legal and even expected if you’re ambitious and seeking to exploit every possible advantage.

In basketball, there’s the player falling down and embellishing a charging foul. In baseball, there’s the player raising his glove as if he caught the ball when he didn’t. In football, there’s the lineman using his hands to hold a rusher until he’s caught. In soccer, there are players acting as if injured when tripped to convince the referee to issue a yellow card.

The gray line is a way of using the system without hurting anyone. Anger, though, sometimes sends you over the gray line. That’s when people need to stop and think.

In high school sports, let’s look at gray-line examples.

There’s the coach hiring a parent so that the son or daughter will attend the high school. There’s the player telling a friend how good the program is and inviting them to join. There’s the school being so nice to the official by giving him a locker, food and water with the hope a call goes their way.

Exiting the gray area is when trouble starts.

It’s a coach verbally abusing a player in the name of tough love. It’s a coach trying to recruit a player from another team or telling a parent to do it. It’s a soccer player deciding to play in an adult Sunday league in the middle of the high school season. It’s a Southern Section baseball or softball team holding batting practicing before a game during the playoffs. All enter the phase of against the rules and not permitted.

Probably no sport has more gray areas than golf, such as coughing when someone is in the middle of their swing or losing a ball in the rough, then placing down a new one without telling anyone to avoid a stroke penalty. And how about taking a swing, missing and saying it was a practice swing?

Golf is a sport with an honor system, whether marking a ball, filling out your scorecard accurately or figuring out how many swings you took to get out of a sand trap.

High School Sports

Jan. 17, 2024

A former coach tells me that when you teach your players to fake a charge in basketball, you should never get mad at an official on a 50-50 call. Same when you teach your player to hold on a box out or when it’s a close call sliding into second base on a steal.

There are so many gray lines in sports that you could have an hourlong debate about right from wrong with people who think there’s only black and white answers.

Faking injuries in soccer increases whenever the World Cup is taking place. And instant replay is used so often in professional and college sports, the experiences are teaching teenagers how to get away with it in similar situations.

I bring this up because it’s hard to tell if cheating is rampant or people are simply testing the gray line.

It’s something to think about when you attend your next game at any level.

There’s a historic inflection point taking place in high school basketball this weekend that has been more than 50 years in the making.

Since Marques Johnson led Crenshaw to the 1973 City Section championship, a group of powerhouse teams, coaches and players have dominated for decades.

The legendary coaches such as Willie West (Crenshaw), Dave Yanai (Fremont), Reggie Morris (Manual Arts), Ed Azzam (Westchester), Harvey Kitani (Fairfax) and Derrick Taylor (Taft) were fortunate to be part of programs that produced such standout players as Johnson, John Williams (Crenshaw), Ivory Ward (Fremont), Kevin Ollie (Crenshaw), Dwayne Polee (Manual Arts), Chris Mills (Fairfax), Jordan Farmar (Taft), Larry Drew Jr. (Taft), Trevor Ariza (Westchester) and many more.

From 2000 through last season, only five schools won upper division titles — Westchester, Fairfax, Taft, Birmingham and El Camino Real.

That will change Saturday, when King/Drew plays Los Angeles CES for the Open Division title at Pasadena City College. Their sports programs hardly existed until the 1990s. Call it the rise of the magnet schools that once were only good enough to compete in the old Magnet League and compete for small school titles.

It has been called a season of parity in the City Section and one of the weakest in terms of overall team talent, but history will be made. The powerhouse programs are nowhere to be found. King/Drew and LACES are the last teams standing, and one will win its first upper division title.

One of the players on LACES is star point guard Donovan Cornelius, a four-year standout. His father, Trent, is in charge of the Los Angeles Unified School District athletics programs. He played for Cleveland High in 1990 when his teammate was Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier. They lost to Crenshaw and Ollie in the semifinals.

His takeaway from this historic meeting in which No. 8-seeded LACES meets No. 2 King/Drew is that filling rosters with transfer students doesn’t have to happen. Many of the players for LACES have been together since sixth grade. King/Drew has a long waiting list because of its strong academics. Neither team has a transfer. The head coaches, David Trujeque of LACES and Lloyd Webster of King/Drew, have reached this point by building from within.

“It’s good, old-fashioned coaching and teaching and nurturing teams,” Cornelius said. “You don’t have to rely on transfers and breaking a bunch of rules. People need to develop their JV kids and do it the old-fashioned way, building up your program and teaching kids to play.”

South Pasadena coach Ernest Baskerville graduated from LACES in 1992. One of his classmates was Leonardo DiCaprio. Baskerville became coach in 1997 and ran the program for 12 years.

“This is historic, two Magnet League schools playing for an Open Division title,” he said. “I never would have dreamt it. We’d lose players to Westchester, Fairfax and Hamilton.”

Harvard-Westlake great Alex Stepheson lived across the street from LACES. The three Shipp brothers from Fairfax— Joe, Josh and Jerren — went to middle school at LACES. The former center at Colorado, Evan Battey, was at LACES until transferring.

“We always had players, but people would leave,” Baskerville said. “It shows growth. It shows parents do value the education.”

No one is expecting the eventual City champion to be placed in the Open Division or Division I for the state playoffs. Division III would be appropriate, which would be a first. But this could be the future. Top players have left LAUSD, lured by promises of exposure or whatever their private coaches are telling them. Hall of Fame coaches have retired or moved on to the Southern Section, such as Kitani, who has Rolling Hills Prep playing for a 2AA championship.

There’s still good City players. For two years, one of the best young players in Southern California has been Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth. His father, Gilbert, played at Grant, then Arizona and in the NBA. Whether Alijah stays for a third year remains to be seen. He came close to getting Chatsworth into the Open Division final until Ryan Conner of LACES made consecutive three-point shots in a matter of two seconds to snatch victory from defeat.

There are still good coaches and good academics in the City Section too.

“They’re great people,” Baskerville said of Webster and Trujeque. “It’s great to see those guys. I’m proud of them.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. On Friday and Saturday in high school football, I witnessed something I’ve never experienced since becoming a sportswriter in 1976 — back-to-back miracle football endings. Let’s go inside the miracle in San Diego that propelled City Section Open Division champion Birmingham into playing for a state Division 3-AA championship and St. Bonaventure into the Division 1-A final.

The immaculate tip

It was the game’s final play. Del Norte led 28-24. Birmingham had the ball on its own 48-yard line. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell threw the pass down the middle. Everyone knew who he was trying to throw to: Peyton Waters, the reigning City Section player of the year. Except there were three defenders on him. Somehow, he tipped the ball, along with others, and it ended up in the hands of Devyn Jackson for a game-winning touchdown.

A look in slow motion of the play almost seems like the play was practiced. Waters has played basketball for Birmingham. It was almost a tip drill or even something you’d see in volleyball.

Except Waters and coach Jim Rose said that play was not practiced.

“If we practice that we definitely would have screwed it up,” Rose said.

Said Waters: “No, it wasn’t on purpose. I went up going for the ball. It was tipped and happened to go to Devyn. It was all desperation and worked out in our favor. That’s why you don’t give up, even on the last play, when you’re down.”

Waters remained in shock well after the game’s conclusion.

“I can’t believe we won,” he said. “It was a crazy experience. Everyone was going crazy. It didn’t hit me until after the game walk to the bus realizing as a senior that could have been my last game but we’re still playing.”

Tisdell finished with four touchdown passes and has gone 14 games without throwing an interception. Birmingham will play Acalanes at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Saddleback College.

Here’s a report, photos and videos from the historic game.

Then, on Saturday, St. Bonaventure trailed St. Augustine 20-14 with 14 seconds left. St. Augustine had the ball on its 17 and decided to punt. It was shanked. St. Bonaventure took over on the 30 with eight seconds left. After a pass completion to the 4-yard line, St. Bonaventure had two seconds left. That’s when the Seraphs pulled off a double pass, getting the tying touchdown and getting the winning extra point.

Here’s the story from the second miracle in San Diego. St. Bonaventure will face a tough test from Folsom in the 1-A final on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Saddleback College.

Here’s a look at top individual performances.

State finals

Saddleback College, El Camino College and Pasadena City College will be the sites Friday and Saturday for the CIF state championship football bowl games.

The big one is Mater Dei taking on unbeaten San Mateo Serra on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Saddleback College. Here’s a report how Southern California teams have received little competition from Northern California teams in recent years in the highest division and how a cycle of domination shows no signs of ending.

Here’s the link to matchups.

Three City Section teams have made it to championship games: Birmingham, Banning and Fairfax. Banning attempted just one pass all game in its 5-A regional win over La Jolla Country Day. It will play Saturday at El Camino College against unbeaten Woodland Christian. Fairfax plays Friday at El Camino College against Ferndale.

On Friday at Saddleback College, Sacramento Grant will play La Serna at 4 p.m. in 2-AA, followed by De La Salle vs. Mission Viejo in 1-AA at 8 p.m.

Other teams in state finals are Mayfair facing Marin Catholic on Saturday at El Camino College in 3-A and Bell Gardens facing Strathmore in 7-A on Saturday at Pasadena City College.

Basketball

Four teams traveled to Arizona for the Hoophall one-day event. No. 1 St. John Bosco and No. 2 Harvard-Westlake won games while Corona Centennial and Sierra Canyon lost in close games. Here’s a report.

There were great games at Redondo Union, none better than JSerra going to double overtime to beat Eastvale Roosevelt. Here’s the report.

Two big games are set for Wednesday. Harvard-Westlake is hosting St. Pius X-St. Matthias and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is hosting Campbell Hall in a game where Bryce James used to practice for both schools before returning to Sierra Canyon.

Pasadena handed Crespi its first defeat in winning the Maranatha tournament.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

In girls basketball, Bishop Montgomery is trying to join the conversation as a contender to challenge Etiwanda and Sierra Canyon. Here’s a report from their win over Brentwood and how the team has two outstanding young players to watch.

Etiwanda picked up a 65-58 win over La Jolla Country Day, surviving a 40-point effort from Naomi Panganiban.

Perrantes legacy

The last of four Perrantes brothers, Malakai, is a starting sophomore guard for Crespi.

The Perrantes family is well respected in the San Fernando Valley.

The oldest brother, London, was a star point guard at Crespi and Virginia and plays professionally in Greece.

Here’s the report.

Dave Keefer keeps working

At 82 years old, Dave Keefer is still running his CaliforniaPreps website. You’ll see him these days in gyms taking photos during the basketball season.

The only slowing down for him is perhaps driving at night. Otherwise, it’s full speed ahead enjoying writing about high school athletes, something he started in 2000 after retiring from a non-media job. He liked basketball and liked sports and keeps coming back for more.

Soccer

Glen Appels took over St. Francis’ soccer program in 1989. He earned his 500th coaching victory Thursday. His teams have won three Southern Section championships. He’s the second winningest soccer coach in Southern Section history.

Oak Park and Hesperia had a meeting a year after they played a memorable playoff game in the snow. In their latest game, Tyler Cash scored four goals to rally Oak Park to a 5-3 victory.

Harvard-Westlake, now in Division 1, made an impressive debut with a 2-0 win over Division 1 power Cathedral. JT Federman and Tyler Ullrich scored the goals for the Wolverines.

Harvard-Westlake’s girls’ soccer team picked up a 1-0 win over Downey on a goal by standout Vicky Pugh.

Notes . . . .

St. Bonaventure offensive lineman Shaun Torgeson has committed to Portland State. . . .

Austin Pope has been dismissed as basketball coach at Burroughs. He was in his first season and the team was 6-1. . . .

Pitcher Nick Salmon of Corona del Mar has committed to UC Santa Barbara. . . .

Daniela Borruel of Sunny Hills won the Southern Section girls’ individual tennis championship by defeating sophomore Danielle Nikmehr of Palos Verdes 6-2, 6-3. The Mater Dei duo of Chloe Vu and Haley Tran won the doubles title. . . .

Outfielder Ryder Dykstra from Corona Centennial has committed to USC. . . .

After four years as head football coach at Burroughs, Jesse Craven has accepted the offer to become head coach at Westlake, one of the most challenging coaching positions because of the parents. . . .

Matt Poston has resigned as football coach at Tesoro. He began as an assistant in 2001, took over as head coach in 2013 and was well respected. He will continue as a math teacher.

From the archives: Charisma Osborne

Former Windward star Charisma Osborne is in the perfect situation to gain national attention as the star fifth-year player for UCLA, ranked No. 2 in the nation in women’s college basketball.

She entered this past week averaging 15.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. She scored a career-high 36 points during last season’s NCAA tournament.

Here’s a 2017 story about Osborne’s talents in high school.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on how the changes in college football recruiting are affecting high school recruits.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the Special Olympics fall games held in Fountain Valley.

From the Daily Breeze, a look at new football leagues in the South Bay for 2024.

Tweets you might have missed

Theo Ottosson is the reigning Mission League player of the year in soccer from Harvard-Westlake. The only problem is finding space at home for his award.

His parents have way more trophies.

His dad, Paul, has won three Academy Awards for sound editing and sound design, including for the 2008 movie “The Hurt Locker.” His mother, Karen, is one of the world’s most accomplished musicians playing the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument. As a boy, Ottosson used to travel to Europe and Asia watching his mother give concerts.

Ottosson, 16, is just getting started earning trophies and plaques. He’s a 6-foot-1, 160-pound junior striker who scored 26 goals as a sophomore in leading Harvard-Westlake to the Mission League championship. In his second game this season, he scored four goals. His coach, Mike Erush, said, “He wants to play at the highest level possible.”

During an afternoon when school was out, Ottosson showed up to practice after taking a driver education class and also checked on his fantasy football team that includes Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and Ja’Marr Chase at receiver. Knowing football and fútbol is just one interesting aspect of his personality.

But make no mistake about which sport he likes best.

“I love soccer,” he said.

He’s played since he was 4, and his passion and commitment come through when he explains some of the sport’s intricacies. It’s like he’s trying to solve a Rubik’s cube.

“I t’s the greatest thing,” he said. “Once you really get into it tactically and you can see past just people running around chasing this little piece of plastic, it’s such a fascinating sport to understand and learn. You can’t practice a play. It’s not like basketball, where you can manipulate people. Every single moment you’re in the game, you have to be making your own decisions.

“There’s no coach who can tell you, ‘Do exactly this because we know how the defense is going to react.’ It’s way more creative because every player when you get the ball, you have three or more options. Almost every single play when they have the ball is like being a quarterback. They have to make their own decisions and that’s going to contribute to the success or fall of the team.

“It’s the most similar sport to chess, in my opinion. In chess, you can never practice for a scenario. Every game you play is going to be different. That’s the same with soccer. You end up in different positions and it’s super fascinating for me how to exploit different scenarios. It’s like a new challenge.”

Ottosson has the size and athleticism to succeed in other sports. Could he have been a good defensive back in football?

“I never asked my parents, but I don’t know if they’d be happy me throwing my head at other people,” he said.

Erush said, “He’s a soccer junkie. He wants to learn, he’s hungry for information. If he scores, he wants to score again.”

He’s also one of the few top players given permission to compete both in high school and in the MLS Next club competition. He wanted to keep playing high school soccer, so that helped. He missed several games this month playing for his club team but is back trying to help Harvard-Westlake as it moves from Division 3 to Division 1.

As his soccer skills keep improving, combined with his talent and passion, the trophies figure to keep coming. And he always can hold his father’s Oscar for motivation, though it comes with a penalty.

“If I touch it, I have to polish it,” he said.

If you want inspiration to think about how far you’ve come and where you want to go, seeing the glistening lights of L.A.’s tallest skyscrapers from Belmont High’s downtown stadium that rests on a hill sends you into a dream world. That’s where the final whistle sounded, ending a scoreless soccer match as the day turned to evening. Contreras High players erupted into a delirious celebration that meant more than winning the school’s first league soccer title.

Players sprinted off the field with tears of joy for a group hug and Gatorade drenching of their 27-year-old coach, Eder Puga Garcia. It’s an unforgettable, unfolding L.A. story. It’s about the magic of sports and how players with families from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala came together for the love of soccer and learned life lessons from their boyish-looking social studies teacher and coach who was once just like them.

“There was definitely challenging times,” Garcia said of his teenage years. “I stayed driven. I came this far, and I’m not giving up. We can’t go back. We have to finish out what we’ve started.”

When he was 15, Garcia arrived here with his parents from Mexico speaking no English. He went to Lincoln High while living in Lincoln Heights and his Plan A was to be a professional soccer player. Soon he switched to Plan B — going to Cal State Los Angeles and becoming a teacher.

In 2021-22, the year after COVID-19 shut down sports programs, Contreras lost its soccer coach a week before the season. Garcia volunteered to take over. The team won one game and lost a game 9-1.

“After that loss, the losses kept coming and coming,” senior Davi Cuyuch recalled.

Some players might have quit. With Garcia as coach, players actually were having fun.

“We looked it as a lesson,” Cuyuch said. “We didn’t let it bring us down. It encouraged us to push more.”

Last season Contreras made it to the City Section Division V championship game. This past week, Contreras won its first league soccer championship since the school opened in 2008. They are a true Los Angeles story about how sports can unite no matter where you come from.

“These kids just love to play soccer and love to play together,” Garcia said. “The first year we were playing not to lose. The second year, usually we’d be out of the game in the first half. We started winning, tying more and losing less. This season we started practicing in August, playing in a local league in September, started conditioning in October.”

All the while, players have placed trust and confidence in Garcia, who holds conversations in Spanish and English. He has shown what can happen when you focus on school and soccer.

Garcia’s father became a plumber and his mother runs a restaurant. He’s married and has a daughter and became a U.S. citizen. He’s living in Lynwood, teaching five social studies classes a day and coaching.

“It’s really a dream come true,” he said.

The team’s best player, senior defender Eduardo Villegas, transferred last year from a magnet school that didn’t have a sports program. He knew many of the players from middle school and wanted to reunite on the soccer field.

“We’re making our school proud,” he said. “It’s the first time we’re league champions. It’s fun. You make new friends and learn something new about them every day.”

With Garcia serving as inspiration, players know there’s a future if they want one.

“When we first started, you don’t know anybody,” Cuyuch said. “They have different backgrounds from different places. They turn into your brothers. You share your ambitions, you practice with them every day. It’s one of your best experiences.”

The outpouring of gratitude, satisfaction and love for their coach could be seen after the whistle blew at the end of the scoreless game against Belmont. Players celebrated then charged to the sideline to embrace their coach.

“He’s just a good coach,” goalie Elvin Martinez said. “He’s always giving us advice. He motivates us to come to practice every day.”

Contreras begins play as the No. 1 seed in the City Section Division IV playoffs this week.

Win or lose, Contreras players know there’s a plan they can embrace — going to college and succeeding in life like their coach.